Enrico Caruso - L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra (Victor, 1917)

Dead Tenors’ Society continues its monthlong tribute to the greatest tenor in recorded history, Enrico Caruso (1873-1921). Last week’s installment focused on Caruso’s early career at the Met up to 1908. Part three covers the next decade of his life, up to 1918. Following his break from common law wife Ada Giachetti, Caruso sank into a deep depression. He somehow managed to honor his professional commitments, including a slew of performances in Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Bremen, Hamburg, Leipzig and Berlin in October and the opening of the Met season (in Aïda) in November. The troubled tenor seemed to throw himself into his work. During the first two weeks of the new season, Caruso sang seven times…a performance every other day. When his singing became inconsistent, some critics chalked it up to a cold. Others reported that he sang in a “strenuous and reckless” manner. He missed almost a month of performances in the spring but returned for Aïda in April. Realizing that there was something desperate